The Collector
by Joshua Phelps
Summary: Booth and Bones find themselves on the trail of a killer, who doesn't leave all of the victim behind.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

He had to feel something. Something had to come through the dull confusion that clouded his brain. He took another drag of his cigarette, looking out from the dark alley where he hid. His clothes were old, covered in holes and dirt, he was fairly sure they hadn't been washed in a couple of years, but he didn't care, they had a purpose, like everything else that was with him. His eyes scanned the street, looking for signs of something, anything that would help him feel, anything.

Then he saw her, a petite girl standing by the bus stop. He was sure she was alone, for she hugged her bag close to her chest, and looked around her with an easy sense of fake confidence. Her hair was brown, and hung just below her shoulders, except for the bangs which were cut just over her eyebrows.

Yes, he thought, Yes, she'll do fine. He took one more drag from his cigarette, and then pulled up the arm of his sweater. But first, I must feel. He crushed the lit end of the cigarette into his arm, the sudden swell of pain and the deep, rich scent of burning skin caused him to smile. Yes, he thought, I can feel it.

Seeley Booth looked out over the field and frowned. The rain that had fallen the night before had ruined the ground, making it soft and muddy. The long lines of Police tape had roped off as much of the huge field as they could, but Booth was still unsure of what they would find. He looked over to the police cruiser where two teenagers were sitting in the back. One of them was crying, her head on the shoulder of the boy beside her.

A night of young love, Booth thought, interrupted by a body. Booth took a step towards the tape. Or part of one, anyways. He looked at the hand that reached up out of the mud, like it was clawing for it's last glimpse of light before being buried. He watched as some of the forensics workers cleared away the dirt and mud from the arm.

"Is there more there than just the hand?" Booth called from the line.

Jerry, one of the forensics people nodded, "Looks like there's at least the radius and ulna, as well as most of the humorous, Booth."

"All I needed was a yes or no, Jerry.", Booth said as he turned away. "Stop digging, I'm calling Bones."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One:

Dr. Temperance Brennan was frustrated. She looked over the paperwork again and sighed. What the manifest said was in the box, wasn't what was in the box. She took three long strides and peered into the box one more time, as if their contents might miraculously change. No, it was still the remains of a monkey, not the remains of a World War One Soldier.

"Hello, Dr. Brennan." Zach Addy called from the stairs as he walked into the open concept laboratory. "Are those the remains we were waiting for?"

"They are remains, Zack", Brennan said. "They aren't the ones we wanted."

Zack cocked his head to one side and frowned.

"They're the remains of a monkey." Brennan said with a sigh.

"Are you sure?" Zack said and then immediately shook his head. "Of course you're sure."

Brennan's phone rang and she quickly brought it to her ear and thumbed the answer button in one swift move. "Brennan."

"Hey, Bones it's me."

"What do you want, Booth?" Brennan sighed, rubbing her head. "I'm having a bad day."

"As bad as the body I've got out here?" Booth said. "One right hand sticking up out of the ground." He added as if he was tempting her to a steak dinner. "Decay has already started."

Brennan sighed. She was going to get no where today anyways without the remains she was expecting. "Where?" she asked.

Rock Creek Park was in the North end of Washington, about 30 minutes from the White House and a lifetime from the rest of the city. It was a piece of history embedded into the hustle and bustle of the city's day to day workings. With places like the Old Stone House, a small stone cottage built in the 1760s; it brings a sense of the past to the present. From the Jeffersonian it was only a short drive along the Beltway to get to the park and from there, an even shorter drive to the field where Booth was waiting.

The lights and chatter from the radios gave away the sense of urgency, like something was waiting, but didn't know what it was waiting for. Brennan stepped out of her car and approached the tape, flashing her credentials to the officer standing guard.

The guard held up the tape for her and as she ducked under, she noticed Booth, with his hands on his hips staring at the dirt. She strolled up behind him and stood for a moment in silence staring at hand as well.

"Is it just me, Bones, or are those fingers really small?" Booth asked.

Brennan studied the fingers for a moment from Booth's side. "They're average for a twelve or thirteen year old." She announced, and then stepped forward to examine the hand in detail.

"The nails have been torn off, probably with a pair of flat nosed pliers. I can't tell if it was post mortem or not. The distal phalanges have been crushed, and the finger tips have been …" Brennan paused for a moment and tilted her head as she studied the fingertips. "Sanded? The prints have been sanded off." She moved her way along the arm, noting any damages to Booth, who stood by staring at a tree across the field, his face a mask of stoicism.

Brennan then started to uncover the body, working layer by layer to preserve the most evidence she slowly revealed the body of a young girl, whom Brennan guessed was aged twelve to fourteen. Booth sighed and stepped away.

"I'll have her sent to your lab." He said as he walked back under the tape.

The body arrived at 4 PM. Brennan and Zach were standing by waiting for the technicians to lift the body bag from the gurney to their examination table. Angela Montenegro, and Dr. Jack Hodgins were standing by, observing as Booth walked up the stairs and slid his identification through the reader.

"Got anything?" Booth asked.

"They haven't even opened the bag yet." Hodgins said dryly.

"Oh." Booth stood beside them and watched as Brennan and Zach opened the bag and started their work.

As they stripped the clothes off the body and handed them to Hodgins for further tests, Zach gasped. Booth stepped forward.

"What is it?" he asked as he approached the table.

"There's a large wound in the left torso." Zach said, forcing himself to regain control, but his face still seemed visibly shaken.

"What kind of wound?" Booth pressed.

Brennan took a sidelong glance at Booth, briefly wondering what was going on. "Do you know something we don't?" she asked him as she probed the wound with her fingers.

"What kind of wound?" Booth repeated each word individually with staccato force.

Brennan sighed and looked at the wound. "The wound is large and deep, easily cutting through the muscle tissue around the ribcage and puncturing the left lung in the process. It seems to have been made by an extremely large knife or a machete, and …" Brennan paused again. She leaned over and probed deeper into the large gash.

Booth sighed and leaned against the head of the examination table, hanging his head. "It's gone isn't it?"

"What's gone?" Angela asked.

Brennan looked up, fear and disgust mixed in her eyes. "Who would do that? And how do you know?"

"He's been active for about five months. We've managed to keep it out of the papers, but with you involved and it being a kid." Booth shook his head.

"What's gone?" Angela asked again. Hodgins stepped up behind her from his microscope to see what was happening, his conspiracy curiosity getting the best of his scientific curiosity.

Brenna looked over at Angela. "Whoever did this took a rib."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two:

"Why didn't you tell me about the others?" Brennan asked as she looked over the body again.

Booth winced inwardly, she was trying to appear casual, but he knew she was seething inside. "It just passed my desk a few days ago; six other bodies, all tortured for a few days and then killed. I had no bodies to show you, so I didn't call." Booth smiled. "I didn't know I had to okay all my cases with you."

Brenna paused but didn't take the bait. She turned to Booth and said, "This body is more than five months old." She said, which made Booth frown. Brennan smiled. "Why did you get the file only a few days ago?"

"Washington PD was taking care of the case, until a Canadian connection was brought up. Then it got bumped up to Federal, there's a Canuck coming down as we speak." Booth explained as he stared at the body. "You sure it's been more than five months?"

Brennan just stared at Booth for a moment before he put up his hands in surrender. "I had to ask. I know the drill." He cleared his throat and said in a poor imitation of Bones, "We'll know more once Hodgins is through with his etymological study of the remains." Booth smiled and nodded around the room, proud of himself, when no one smiled back he crossed his arms and muttered, "Squint have no sense of humour."

"We do, Booth." Brennan smiled. "It's just more highly evolved."

Booth arched his eyebrows at her for a moment and then sighed. "Well we've got one thing useful out of this." He said as he started back to the stairs. "We know that this is probably his first victim, not his latest, and we also know he's been at it more than five months. That's good."

"How is that good, Agent Booth?" Zach asked from where he was examining the partially exposed skull of the body.

"Because, Zach, it takes time for a serial killer to develop his skills." Booth turned to face the small mousey haired man, who looked up in shock at Booth. "On the first few he tends to make mistakes, then …" Booth paused as he noticed Zach staring at him. "What's wrong?"

"I really wish you wouldn't refer to the killer as 'developing skills' where it relates to killing someone." Zach said. "I always felt that skills referred to useful things"

"I'm sorry Zach, but that's exactly what he's done." Booth said his voice dropping to a more relaxing tone. "He's developed the skills he needs to feed some need that he has inside him. This monster has made mistakes, and I guarantee you'll find some of them there." Booth pointed at the body. "But he's probably learned now. He's gotten better. Better at hunting and better at killing. I want to stop him before he gets any better."

Booth turned and strode down the stairs.

Hodgins took a deep breath. "I think that's smartest thing I've heard him say." He muttered thoughtfully.

* * *

Booth walked into his office and sat down at his desk. He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath; it was only then that he noticed the man sitting in a chair by the door.

The man wore a dark green suit with a crisp white shirt and a matching tie. His hair was brown and neatly trimmed around his neck and ears. His clean shaven face smiled for a moment showing perfect white teeth and dazzling green eyes. As he stood his leather shoes squeaked as he walked over, extending his hand.

Booth glanced stood and glanced down at the man's shoes. The man glanced down at them as sell and chuckled.

"They're new." His voice was deep and strangely melodic. "I haven't had time to break them in yet." He extended his hand further towards Booth. "Sergeant Mark Hawks, R.C.M.P., special liaison from Canada."

Booth took the hand noting that it was rough and calloused. "Special Agent Seely Booth." Booth released the hand. "Please don't be insulted, but do you have identification, Sgt. Hawks?"

"Please, just call me 'Hawk', even my Dad does." Hawk reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a leather wallet, opening it he showed Booth his credentials. "You?"

Booth smiled and flipped out his badge, showing it to Hawk, who nodded.

"Okay, now that we've flopped them on the table and learned that my suit is better than yours, but your badge is WAY cooler than mine, can we get to business?" Hawk laughed, and Booth found it contagious, so he let himself chuckle a bit.

"We've got seven bodies now; the latest appears to be the first to be killed. I have my Squints at the Jeffersonian working on the remains now." Booth said. "We should have a time of death soon, they're the best."

Hawk nodded. "I have eight bodies, all killed in the same way, up in Ottawa. Started about a year and a half ago."

Booth looked up, shocked. "Fifteen bodies in two years?"

Hawk nodded. "The last seven in the last five or six months." Strangely Hawk smiled. "He's speeding up. The kill isn't lasting as long as it used to."

"Any suspects?" Booth asked, not really expecting an answer.

Hawk nodded again, the same quizzical smile on his face. "Just one, but you ain't gonna like it."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3:

He stepped into the shower with a smile. The pain was exquisite. The fear in her eyes was perfect. The blood that flowed from her wounds was bright and red, she was perfect. The shower washed the blood from his body and he watched it flow down into the drain, slowly changing from red to pink as it mixed with the water.

She was strong too. She lasted much longer than the others did before she passed out from the pain. She was going to last a while before she broke down and her heart stopped beating. She was going to keep him satiated for a long time. He had to remember to keep their sessions shorter than this one was. The first was always the longest. He could hold on without his toys for a little while but when he got one that he liked, he wanted to play with it, to explore it, to see what he could do with it before it broke.

He smiled as he remembered her screams. He smiled as he remembered the tears as they rolled down her face, and onto her chest. He could still hear her sobbing and her begging for him to stop. He smiled as he remembered her face when he promised that she would die, and never see the sun again.

* * *

Brennan and Zach were crouched over the body on the table. Hodgins was peering into his microscope and Angela was sitting on a cushioned bench not far from him when they heard Booth and someone else enter the examining area.

"So what is the Canadian government going to do when we catch this guy?" Booth was saying. "Are you guys going to prosecute him?"

Angela looked up and could feel her heart start to race a little when she saw the man with Booth. The hair, the man's build, his face it was all perfect, but those eyes!

"Dear Lord, put away those eyes!" she muttered to herself when he looked over to her. She stood and placed the drawing pad down on the bench, a half finished sketch of the victim's face on it. "Hi." She said as she drew nearer to Hawk. "I'm Angela; please tell me you're single." She held her hand out and Hawk took it in one of his and smiled.

Booth sighed, "Everyone, this is Sgt. Mark Hawks from the R.C.M.P. Hawk, this is everyone."

Hawk smiled politely as Angela lead him around the lab, introducing him to the team, her arm linked casually in his. Hawk paused when she reached Brennan.

"You need no introduction Dr. Brennan." Hawk said. "I'm a big fan of your work, both scientific and literary."

Brennan smiled and brushed a stray hair away from her eyes. "Thank-you." She said softly.

Booth rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe it, and Bones was actually BLUSHING! Booth would have expected this kind of reaction from Angela, but not from Bones. He took a long look at Hawk, alright so the guy was good looking, with long, well formed limbs, but wasn't 6'4" just a little tall?

Booth shook his head. "Hawk was just telling me about the suspect they had up in the Great White North."

Hawk nodded, "Yeah, guy named Joseph Cowl." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small notepad. "Born in Toronto, Ontario in 1971, he grew up there and in Hamilton mostly, entered the Military in 1990, went for Special Forces training 4 years later. Assigned to protect the Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. about a year and a half ago, been here ever since."

"You're not telling them the kicker." Booth muttered.

Hawk took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "He has Diplomatic Immunity."

"Isn't that just peachy." Hodgins muttered. "So why are we bothering to investigate him then?"

"Because if we can get enough evidence on him we can deport him back to Canada for prosecution." Booth said with a nod of his head in Hawk's direction.

Hawk paused for a moment, and then flashed his smile. "You got it."

After Booth and Hawk had left the lab, going to Booth's favourite restaurant for lunch, Hodgins stared after them with a determined look in his eyes.

"Hodgins, what are you looking at?" Zach muttered as he mounted a sample on a glass plate for the microscope.

"That Canadian, did he seem strange to you?" Hodgins asked as he turned to face Zach.

Zach shrugged. "He seemed like a nice guy to me."

Angela looked up from her seat where she was working on her sketch again. "And those eyes! Did you see those eyes! And let's not forget the arms."

Hodgins gave Angela a sour look for a second then turned back to Zach. "All Canadians seem like nice guys, that's what's weird about them. If you ask me Canadians are secretive and just a little bit creepy."

"Hodgins," Brennan said from the table. "You can't label and entire country's people as being 'creepy'."

Hodgins turned to face Brennan. "Dr. Brennan, with all due respect, yes I can. This is still a free country, after all."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4:

Booth leaned back in his chair and took a long drink of his coffee. Hawk was sitting across from him sipping easily on a beer. Booth was a little apprehensive of this man. His easy smile, and boyish good looks just didn't compare with what Booth knew about the R.C.M.P.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were, as far as Booth knew, vastly under funded, and as such, like every other Canadian thing, made up for it with training. The R.C.M.P. officers that Booth had met had all been highly trained and quite frankly a little scary. Hawk exuded none of that and it bothered Booth. Why it bothered him, he didn't know, but it did. Booth felt it in his gut.

"So tell me about Joseph Cowl." Booth asked.

Hawk shrugged. "Not really much to say other than what I have told you. He started his killing about a year and a half ago in Ottawa. He made no obvious mistakes in all that time. The only reason we had him as a suspect is because a Bank of Montreal video surveillance camera caught him leading his last Canadian victim away the night she disappeared."

Booth shook his head. "It doesn't jive." He rubbed his tired eyes and glanced back up at Hawk. Why didn't he look tired? All cops looked tired. "I mean he must have made some mistakes. It's a fundamental rule of serial killers. The first few kills are always messy and sloppy. He had to have learned on something. What was his military record like?"

Hawk shrugged. "I don't know, it was classified."

Booth slapped his hand down onto the table, the dishes and cutlery rattled on the table as Hawk eyed him coolly, waiting for something.

"That's it!" Booth exclaimed. "He must have learned it in the military."

Hawk raised one eyebrow. "You're telling me you think the Canadian Military taught him how to be a serial killer?"

Both shook his head. "Not to be a serial killer, just taught him to kill. It's not that big a stretch. Something in this guy's head just kind of snapped and he started to prey on girls."

Hawk nodded. "Plausible." He downed his beer in one gulp. "What's our next move? Your city, your show."

Booth stood and flopped some bills onto the table. "We back to Bones and see what she and the Squint Squad have dug up."

"Bones?" Hawk asked. "Squint Squad."

"Sorry, Dr. Brennan and her staff." Booth said with a smile.

"So!" Booth said as he rubbed his hands together and approached the examining table with Hawk behind him. "What have you got for us, Bones."

Angela had already sidled up beside Hawk and had whispered 'Hello' to him with a smile. Hawk smiled back and gave the small woman a long gaze up and down her body. Angela smiled wider.

Brennan frowned disapprovingly at Angela and cleared her throat loudly. "Well, we've discovered that he probably used pliers to remove the victim's fingernails. All wounds, by the way, are peri-mortem. He used a variety of knives, long, short, serrated and tapered. At one point, he used a lighter to burn parts of the victim's body. Traces of butane were found on the burns." Brennan paused and looked around. No one was looking at her or the body on the examination table. Everyone was staring at the floor. Zach was visibly trying to keep tears from his eyes.

"Judging by the various stages of insects found on the remains, I'd say she was in the ground for no more than 19 weeks." Hodgins said, shifting from foot to foot. "I also found some kind of dust on her clothes, I haven't identified it yet, I've got the mass spectrometer working on it."

"Cause of death?" Booth asked.

"None of the wounds were enough to kill individually." Zach said softly.

"So she was tortured to death?" Hawk asked.

Zach nodded.

Angela handed a sheet of drawing paper to Booth. "My sketch of her." She said. "I made her look happy; I thought it would be better if she looked happy."

Hawk placed a firm hand on Angela's shoulder. "A good idea." He said in a soft voice.

Booth took the sheet and nodded his thanks to Angela. "I'll see if I can track down her face in missing persons." He glanced down at the sketch. "She was beautiful. Some of your best work, Angela."

"Thanks, Sweety."

Booth turned to Hawk, who now had his arm around Angela and was rubbing her shoulders trying to comfort her. Booth paused for a second, "I was just going to go back to the office and run this. If you want to stick around and do the sightseeing thing, I'll pick you up when we have something more complete."

Hawk nodded. "I was going to see if Angela here might need some air."

Angela looked up at Hawk. "I'd love some." She said, putting on the best smile she could.

Zach and Hodgins went towards their respective desks in silence, each trying to keep out of their minds the visions of what had actually happened to the young girl.

Booth watched as the four people left Brennan alone with him. "Look, Bones, I didn't want to ask this question with everyone else around." Booth started.

"I didn't think you would." Brennan said as she covered the bones with a white sheet. "There was no sexual trauma; as a matter of fact there was no damage in the pubic region at all." Brennan turned to head back to her office. Booth wondered if he should follow her or just turn and leave. Brennan left the door open, and Booth took that as a sign to enter.

"How are you and Hawk getting along?" Brennan asked as she sat behind her desk.

Booth shrugged. "Fine, I guess. He's a little strange, but that could just be because he's Canadian."

Brennan rolled her eyes. "You're starting to sound like Hodgins."

"His shoes squeak." Booth said.

"That's bad?"

"Any good cop knows that you should have good sturdy shoes that are relatively comfortable and quiet." Booth said. "His shoes squeak. He said they were new, why would he buy new shoes to go to another country to conduct an investigation?"

"You sound jealous." Brennan said. "Like you're not the Alpha Male any more."

"I'm not jealous." Booth snapped. "I just don't trust him." Booth paused and looked directly into Brennan's eyes. "Call it my gut."

Brennan sighed. "We've had discussions about your gut before." She leaned back and looked out a window, where she saw Hawk and Angela walking down a path and chatting with each other. "There's no real empirical evidence to back your claims, however," she added quickly when Booth took a deep breath. "Your so called 'gut' has proven accurate in the past."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5:

Angela flopped herself onto the couch in Brennan's office with a long sigh. Brennan peeked up from the file she was looking at and then calmly looked back at it. Angela sighed again, a long moaning sigh with a slight smile on her lips. Brennan placed the file carefully on her desk and gave Angela her full attention.

"I have the feeling here that I'm supposed to ask you something about how your walk with Sgt. Hawks went." Brennan said with a straight face.

Angela's smile erupted into sheer pleasure. "He is such a gentleman!" Angela started. "He opened doors for me, said thank you and excuse me to people we didn't even know. He stopped at one point to help a man pick up some papers that he'd dropped!" Angela stood up and paced the room. "We were walking along, when someone 7 or 8 feet away sneezed, he stopped in the middle of the sentence he was in, said 'Bless you!' to the guy and then went right on with his sentence!"

"Okay, so he's polite." Brennan shrugged.

"And my God!" Angela said. "What a body!"

Brennan frowned. "You didn't."

Angela looked confused for a moment, and then suddenly said, "Oh, sex? No, but while I was kissing him I had a good chance to investigate him through his clothes. The man is built like Adonis!"

"You kissed him?" Brennan asked.

Angela nodded. "He's a great kisser too."

Brennan shook her head and lifted the file again.

Booth was sitting at his desk looking at the file that had just been brought to him. The girls name was Jennifer Renaud, 12 years old and had been missing for 21 weeks, Hodgins had said that the girl had only been dead for 19 weeks, so that meant that she had been alive and was tortured for at least 2 weeks. Booth rubbed his eyes and slammed the file closed.

"Rough day?" Hawk's voice said from the door. "Did you get a name for the vic?"

Booth nodded. He quickly related the information on the young girl. Hawk sat down in a chair across from Booth. Neither man spoke for a while.

"How much do we need to deport him to Canada?" Booth asked.

"Let's just talk to him first." Hawk said. "I'll make arrangements to visit him at his house in the morning."

"He may have another girl." Booth said. "Another girl went missing two nights ago."

"Any reason to think it might be Cowl?" Hawk asked as he reached over to take the file on Jennifer Renaud.

Booth shrugged. "Female, 21, about the samephysicallook as his other victims. She left work at 10 o'clock and never made it home. Poorly lit area, no signs of struggle or any other evidence found at the bus stop she was last seen at."

Hawk nodded and pulled out a cell phone. Booth noticed the butt of a gun under Hawk's right shoulder. Hawk dialled a number and drew his weapon with one hand, emptying the chamber and dropping the clip onto Booth's desk. He handed it to Booth butt first.

"Glock 9." Hawk said. "I've got a permit for it in my wallet if you want to see it."

Booth shook his head. He looked over the weapon quickly and handed it back to Hawk, who was chatting with someone on the phone. He was laughing and asking about someone's wife and kids before he made the request to speak with Cowl at his house in the morning. A moment later, he hung up the phone and placed it back in his coat pocket.

"We're set to meet him at 9 AM tomorrow." Hawk said. He quickly reloaded the weapon and holstered it.

"You've loosened the trigger." Booth said as he pointed to the weapon. "Don't you worry about accidentally shooting someone?"

Hawk shook his head. "Na, if I have to draw it chances are I'll have to fire it. We do things a little different in Canada."

Booth nodded, his mind working in the back of his head. Standing up he started to tidy his desk up. "I'm gonna go home. There's nothing much we can do until tomorrow, so I guess I'll see you then. Should we meet at his house?"

Hawk stood and shook his head. "Could you pick me up? I haven't gotten round to requisitioning a car. I had to take a cab from the Jeffersonian to here, and frankly the cabbies here scare me to death with the way they drive."

Booth laughed. "Yeah they are a little crazy."

As Hawk got to the door he turned around. "What kind of flowers does Angela like?"

Booth shrugged. "I don't know, why?"

"We're going out tonight and I thought I'd get her some." Hawk said as he opened the office door. "I'll get roses, everyone likes roses. See you tomorrow, partner."

Booth waved his hand up as he cleaned his desk and said goodbye. He was on his way to the elevator when he pulled his cell phone and called Brennan. He told Brennan about the interview the next day, and the identity of the victim on her table.

"I'll have Zach prepare the body for transport to the morgue before he leaves." Brennan said. "What time will you pick me up?"

"For what?" Booth asked.

"For the interview." Brennan said as if it were the most natural answer.

"Now wait a minute." Booth started.

"Booth we have this argument every time and every time you loose and I end up going with you. Can we please skip the argument part and just go to the part where you tell me what time you'll get me?" Brennan said quickly.

Booth paused for a long time before saying, "Eight o'clock." Then he hung up. He could just picture Brennan smiling as she hung up her phone.

Hawk knocked firmly on the door to Angela's apartment. When the door opened he was greeted with the succulent smells of cooking, and Angela's smiling face at the door. He pulled the roses from behind his broad back and held them out to her.

"They're lovely." Angela said with a smile. "I hope you like steak and garlic potatoes."

"I thought we were going out?" Hawk asked as he stepped into the apartment. He had changed to a tan button-down shirt and a pair of pressed jeans.

"I thought you could use some solid home cooking." Angela said. The smile she gave him was inviting and mischievous at the same time. Hawk returned the smile.

"Home cooking sounds perfect." He said.

He unlocked the door to the basement and stepped down the stairs. He knew she was aware he was there, a light came on every time he got home and she must have figured out by now that it meant he'd be there soon after. He relished the terror that was probably building in her. He reached a second door, sound proofed and locked with two tumblers and three keys. He slowly opened each lock, smiling as he thought about what he would do with his toy tonight. He had to make it last. He wanted this one to last a long time.

He finished with the last lock and opened the door. He smiled at the small thing cowering in the corner on a dirty and stained mattress.

"I'm home, Sweetheart." He said.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6:

Brennan was looking out the window at the passing trees as Booth deftly guided his car through the morning traffic. She was just about to ask Booth for the third time this morning why she couldn't have a gun, when his cell phone rang.

"Booth." He said as he deftly avoided a pedestrian.

"Hey, buddy, it's Hawk."

"What's up, something wrong?" Booth asked, his internal alarm going off in his head.

"Nope, just a change in plans." Hawk paused for a moment. "Do you know where Angela lives?"

Booth sighed and turned away from Brennan. "You didn't." he said softly. "Tell me you didn't sleep with her."

There was a long pause.

"You did." Booth sighed again.

"She's a nice girl, Booth and I like her." Hawk said, his voice getting soft now too. "I understand your feeling protective and all, but she's a big girl and can make her own choices."

"I've got Bones with me." Booth said. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thanks, partner."

Booth hung up and sighed again.

"He slept with her?" Brennan asked.

Booth looked at her, surprised.

Brennan shrugged. "It's a small car, Booth."

Hawk was waiting for then at the curb, with Angela standing beside him, arm in arm. She waved and smiled at Brennan, who gave her a sick smile back and waved. Hawk climbed into the back seat and smiled at Booth, who turned and regarded him with probing eyes for a few moments. Hawk held his gaze, his face a mask.

Booth turned around and placed a hand on Brennan's leg as she took a breath and started to turn in her seat. Booth shook his head, slightly and Brennan turned to stare out the front window.

They drove in silence to Silver Spring, a small suburb of Washington, where families were the norm and the streets were clean and lawns were well kept. At the end of a small cul-de-sac, Booth parked the car and stepped out. Hawk stepped out too, and Booth motioned for Brennan to stay in the car for a moment.

Brennan was fuming and Booth was wondering how long she could hold it in before she exploded. Booth turned to face Hawk.

"What's Dr. Brennan doing here?" Hawk asked as he checked his sidearm.

"It's normal for her to come when I question suspects." Booth said. "Do me a favour and keep that in your pants okay?"

Hawk examined Booth for a moment and smiled. "You're upset about Angela and I?"

Booth nodded. "A little, I just don't want her to be hurt."

Hawk nodded. "And I don't want to hurt her."

"Glad we have that straightened out."

"Was there anything else?" Hawk asked, his face a mask to Booth.

God that's annoying! Booth thought.

"No." Booth replied. "We should be fine." He suddenly grinned. "You suddenly go after Hodgins and I'll have to shoot you."

Hawk laughed. "If I go after Hodgins I'll hand you the weapon myself."

Hawk led the way up to the house and Brennan got out of the car and followed with Booth.

"What was that about?" Brennan asked. "There was enough male posturing involved that I thought you'd sprout feathers."

Booth glanced down at her and frowned in confusion.

"Never mind." Brennan said. "Everything okay?"

Booth nodded. "Once we get Cowl on a plane with Hawk back to Canada everything will be back to normal."

Brennan nodded. "Whatever normal is around here."

Hawk had reached the door and was waiting for Brennan and Booth to climb the steps before he knocked on the door. A few moments later it opened and a man in a dark blue suit stood before them, his hair neatly trimmed and combed, he had obviously just shaved as he reeked of Old Spice. Joseph Cowl was 6 feet tall and 35 years old, but the way that he held himself made Booth feel like that man was 10 feet tall and bullet-proof. He stepped aside and invited the three visitors in with a smile.

"Thank-you for letting us speak with you, Mr. Cowl, I realize you didn't have too." Booth said. "I'm Special Agent Booth, with the F.B.I., this is Sgt. Hawks with the R.C.M.P. and this is Dr. Brennan, who is consulting with us on this case."

Cowl nodded and examined each of them in turn, smiling at Hawk as he offered his hand, but then motioning them to seats without taking it. "Please have a seat." Cowl said, his voice was rough and deep, as if he had been smoking for many years, but the room was smoke free. "What can I do for you?"

Brennan remained standing and looked at the shelves that were fixed to the wall by the fireplace. Some long carvings were laid on them, she stepped closer and examined them.

"Agent Booth here has a couple of questions that he'd like to ask you, and I should first say that you have the personal thanks of the Chief of Protocol of the Canadian Foreign Service." Hawk said as he watched Cowl, who was watching Brennan.

Booth was examining all three of them with a nervous feeling in his stomach. "I was wondering, Mr. Cowl if I could ask you where you were three nights ago?" Booth watched as Cowl's eyes never left Brennan.

Brennan picked up one of the carvings and examined the end of it.

"Please, Dr. Brennan, don't handle those, they were very expensive." Cowl said as he stood, Booth and Hawk both stood as well.

"Booth," Brennan said, totally oblivious to the scene around her. "This is a human rib."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7:

Cowl stared for a minute at Brennan. Booth and Hawk just seemed to freeze and wait for the next words from Cowl's mouth. Suddenly Cowl was a blur of motion. He rushed across the room and crashed into Brennan sending her flying into the wall with a thud. Booth whipped his gun free, screaming, "Stop, F.B.I.!"

Hawk silently pulled his gun free and fired three times as Cowl zigged and zagged, out the back door.

Booth ran to Brennan's side to make sure she was okay. Brennan was shocked, but nodded her head. Booth suddenly turned on Hawk, who was rushing out the back door after Cowl.

"Stay here." Booth said. He ran out after Hawk.

Booth followed Hawk as he dodged into and out of bushes and yards. They broke out onto a street and Booth yelled again for Cowl to stop. Cowl pushed himself harder and started to pull away from the two pursuing men.

As Cowl started to turn onto a street with small shops and stores on it, he started to grab pedestrians and trip them, or smash them into walls, to slow down his pursuers. Booth paused, but Hawk jumped over them, or dodged out of their way.

As Cowl turned up a street he started over a bridge that drifted over Rock Creek Park. Cowl paused and then leapt off the bridge into the park, and disappeared.

Hawk got to the edge of the bridge and looked down. He fired a few shots into the trees where he saw Cowl duck into, but didn't hear a scream, or any other sign that he'd hit him. Booth trotted up shortly after and stared after him.

"He in there?" Booth asked.

Hawk nodded.

"You do realize we want him alive?" Booth muttered.

Hawk shrugged. "Long as we stop him, who cares?"

"Look, you still need a good reason to shoot him." Booth said. "If he's endangering your life or the life of …" Booth paused as Hawk pulled out another leather case and held it up in front of Booth's face.

They were diplomatic credentials.

Booth shook his head in disbelief. "Is your country giving those away as door prizes?"

Hawk climbed up onto the ledge of the bridge and leapt over, trotting into the forest, after Cowl. Booth was just about to follow when Brennan trotted up behind him. He turned and grabbed her arm.

"What the Hell are you doing here? He may have another victim in his house." He said. "I'll call for back up. Go and wait there."

"Booth, I'm not just going to leave you out there." Brennan started.

"Please, Bones." Booth said. "This thing's already FUBARed."

Brennan made a confused face. "I don't know what that means."

"Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition." Booth said with a smile. "Besides I'll move faster without you."

Brennan suddenly looked angry. "Are you implying that I slow you down?"

Booth sighed and stared at the sky, as if asking God "Why me?" He looked back at Brennan and put on his best fake smile. "Look, Bones," he started quickly. "Cowl is a Canadian Special Forces soldier, I was a trained Army Ranger, and you're a Forensic Anthropologist." Brennan opened her mouth to speak. "No matter how good of shape you keep yourself in, you won't be able to keep up." Booth added quickly.

Brennan pouted for a moment, and turned back the way she came, muttering under her breath about wasting valuable time arguing when they could be on Cowl's trail.

Booth shook his head and jumped after the Canadians.

Brennan made it back to the house and sat on the hood of the car, waiting. She stared at the house and wondered if there really was another girl inside. She shook her head, and started walking towards the house. Cowl was in the forest somewhere, running from Booth and Hawk, there was no one in the house, with the possible exception of Cowl's last victim. Brennan wasn't going to make her wait to be rescued.

She burst through the door and looked around the room, for any clue about where he would hide a girl he was torturing. Suddenly her ringing phone shocked her.

"Brennan." She muttered as she thumbed the answer button.

"Hi, it's Hodgins, how goes the interrogation?" the voice on the other side said.

"He ran." Brennan replied. "Do you have anything for me?"

"That white dust all over everything is cement dust." Hodgins said. "Just the regular commercial stuff, but if you find any more I should be able to match the base component ratios." Hodgins paused for a moment. "So, running is a bad thing right?"

"Yes." Brennan replied and then hung up.

She looked around the house. Cement dust. No garage outside. Only one other place it would be common to find it. Brennan started looking for the stairs to the basement.

Booth was one of the most accomplished trackers the Rangers had ever produced. He ran through the woods glancing down at seemingly innocuous things and immediately knew where Cowl and Hawk were heading. He wove in and out of trees and jumped over fallen logs before he heard Hawk yell, "Freeze!"

Booth turned on his heel and went towards Hawks voice and approached the clearing it was coming from. Something inside his gut spoke to him, telling him to wait, to hold back and watch. Something wasn't right. Booth stayed in the trees and watched as Hawk and Cowl faced each other. Hawk's weapon was out and he was holding it steady at Cowl's chest.

Cowl was standing, calmly staring at Hawk. His pale, drawn face a mask of silence.

Then Cowl spoke. "You're not RCMP are you?"

Hawk took a few steps forward, not taking the gun from Cowl's chest.

"No." Hawk replied. Booth had to suddenly resist the urge to jump up and scream, "I was right!".

"Who are you with?" Cowl asked.

"Military." Hawk replied, his voice had gone cold, unlike his more animated self earlier.

"I'm not going to walk out of here alive am I?"

"No," Hawk said. "You're not."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8:

Angela seemingly waltzed into the lab humming "I feel Pretty" from West Side Story. Hodgins had just hung up the phone from talking to Brennan and stared at her as she hummed by his desk. Zach was standing beside Hodgins and observed her movements with a curious expression.

"Someone got laid last night." Hodgins said with a hungry grin.

"A lady never tells." Angela replied with a glance over her shoulder. "Especially when the people that are asking know the person you slept with."

"Oh Ho!" Hodgins cried. "You finally got Booth in bed!"

"No." Angela pouted. "He's got his eyes on someone else."

Hodgins took a sidelong glance at Zach and then shook his head. "So who was it?"

Angela shook her head and walked away. "I'm not saying."

Hodgins thought for a moment, his brow furrowed. He took a look at Angela and then stared down at his table for a second. His head suddenly whipped up and he started off towards her. "Not the Canadian! Please tell me it wasn't the Canadian!"

Angela looked back over her shoulder and laughed, "What's wrong with him, Eh?" she smiled.

Hodgins stopped and dropped his head. "They've gotten her."

* * *

Brennan slowly made her way down the stairs and looked around the dark room. Cement dust was everywhere. She peered into the darkness and fumbled on the wall for a switch. When she found one she flicked it on and waited for a moment while her eyes adjusted to the bright, bare bulb that hung at the foot of the stairs, just in front of a door filled with locks.

The door was like something out of a medieval castle, large and steel with great iron bands across it. A large handle sat on the right hand side and padlocks were stacked above it. Huge hinges were bolted to the wall and held it in place.

Brennan looked around her for anything she might use to get through the door. Then she noticed the nail attached to the wall beside the light switch. A ring of keys sat there.

This can't be that easy, Brennan thought.

She took the key-ring and tried key after key into the top lock. The fourth key fit. It smoothly opened and she moved to the next lock.

* * *

"Why?" Hawk asked. "Why do this to women?"

Cowl chucked and looked at the dirt at his feet. "I once captured and interrogated the wife of a high level Iraqi General." He said. He looked up at the trees around him. "It's what I was trained to do. It's what they trained me to do." He looked at Hawk, his eyes had gone cold and dark. Booth shuddered, a wave of chills running over his body, like the hand of death had just touched him. "I inflict pain and death. It's what I was trained to do, it's what I am."

"But why now?" Hawk asked. "You didn't get orders to kill these women you kidnapped."

Cowl smiled sadly at Hawk. "It's the only thing I was ever good at."

"You know the Canadian government can't allow you to stand trial here or back home." Hawk said.

Cowl nodded. "I know."

Hawk raised the gun and took aim. Booth jumped from his hiding spot and screamed at Hawk to wait , Hawk turned and looked away from Cowl. Cowl was suddenly in motion, leaping towards Booth and tackling him to the ground, rolling over Booth's broad back as he fell, Cowl rolled to his feet and raised Booth's gun taking quick aim at Hawk.

Booth rolled and reached into his jacket for his gun, finding his empty holster. How the Hell, Booth wondered briefly before he noticed the two Canadians suddenly opening fire. Both men were moving and firing. Cowl picking his shots, realizing that he had a finite number of rounds and Hawk blasting away at the quickly moving murderer.

As Booth stood up he watched as Cowl suddenly fell, clutching at his leg. Booths gun skittered across the grass and rested about six feet away. Booth ran over and grabbed his weapon reaching to his belt for his hand cuffs. Hawk slowly walked towards Cowl, who was clutching his right leg and grunting in pain.

Hawk levelled his gun on Cowl's head.

* * *

"And he's so incredibly polite." Angela said with a smile as Hodgins shook his head in disbelief. Zach was sitting beside Hodgins listening to Angela as she described her evening with Hawk in detail.

"He brought flowers." Angela said. "He said please and thank-you for absolutely everything. The guy has more manners in his pinkie-finger than every American man combined."

Hodgins and Zach frowned at this. "American men are honest." Hodgins said. "We show people our feelings and don't care what other people think."

"Uh huh," Angela muttered with a rye grin. "Anyways the guy is also built like a bust of Adonis." She paused here, as if going over the vision in her head. Then giving her head a shake she smiled. "All in all he's perfect."

* * *

Hawk pulled the trigger. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9:

"What the Hell are you doing?" Booth screamed as he stared in horror at Cowl's grey matter running freely over the grass of the field.

Hawk turned to face Booth, his eyes unreadable, but Booth was sure he saw something in them … maybe regret?

"Calm down, Booth." Hawk said softly. "We both know this couldn't have ended any other way."

"I'm sorry," Booth said dryly. "I thought we were here to catch a killer, not kill one. I must have missed that memo."

Hawk shook his head. "Don't be so naïve, Booth. This guy started killing in Canada, then he managed to get a job in the Canadian Diplomatic Corps on it's Security Detail. My government applied to your government for Diplomatic Immunity for him, which your government approved. He came to the U.S. and continued to kill, only this time he couldn't be arrested even if he was caught." Hawk stared at Booth. "Neither of our governments wanted him to be taken alive."

"Are you saying both governments approved of this?" Booth said as he pointed at Cowl's dead body.

"You know full well if they did I wouldn't be allowed to tell you." Hawk said as he nodded.

Booth looked around, feeling the situation quickly falling out of his hands. A position he was in no way used to. He looked up at Hawk suddenly, "I'll have to arrest you." He said quickly, raising his weapon and pointing it at Hawk.

Hawk shook his head. "You can't." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his diplomatic credentials. "You can't detain me, question me or arrest me."

Booth let his weapon fall to his side. "What do we do now?" He asked.

"Cowl was killed while fleeing you and I." Hawk said, turning and walking back into the forest. "He had obtained your weapon and I killed him. It goes better if I fired the shot. Less diplomatic red tape."

Booth followed him into the forest. "I heard you tell him you were with the military and not the RCMP." He smiled at Hawk when Hawk's face went white. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

They walked in silence for a moment. Then Booth asked, "What about Angela?"

Hawk smiled for a moment. "She can't know." He said with a frown. "I know you were in the military, Booth. I need your word as a soldier you won't tell her about this."

"After what you did tonight?" Booth said. "You gunned down an unarmed man!"

"And how may times have you done that, Sniper-Boy?" Hawk spat back. "I did what OUR governments decided to do about a situation. Don't kid yourself and think this is new."

They walked in silence for a while, Booth's mind twisting and turning the situation in his head, trying to make some kind of sense out of a nonsensical situation.

"I won't tell her." Booth said. "But you should."

* * *

Brennan finally got the last lock undone, just as she started to hear people crashing in from upstairs. She called out to them and then swung the door open.

What she saw would be burned into her eyes for the rest of her life.

The girl was lying naked on her side, facing Brennan, on a blood, urine and feces stained mattress. She was shackled around her ankles and wrists with large steel bands. Chains led from the shackles to large bolts in the wall. The girl's scalp was partially torn off; the bloody mass of flesh was sitting in the corner of the room. The fingertips of her right hand had been smashed with a hammer, or other heavy instrument. Brennan noticed an anvil to her left with a bloody sledgehammer on it. The girl was beaten so badly Brennan was almost positive she'd loose sight in at least her left eye. Blood and puss oozed from under the swollen eyelid.

Brennan heard the men upstairs and turned towards the stairs. "We need an ambulance down here now!"

The girl shuffled and moved away from the door, whimpering in pain and fear. When she turned her back to Brennan to try to get away, Brennan covered her mouth in shock.

The skin on part of her back had been flayed off.

* * *

"And what did he mean when he said that he 'was trained' to do these things that he did to women." Booth asked Hawk as they stepped onto the street where Cowl lived.

Hawk stopped and faced Booth. "Look, my government has made a great many mistakes just like yours." Hawk turned away and started up the street towards the house with the ambulance and police vehicles out front. "Cowl was one of those mistakes."

As the two men walked to the door of the house Booth stopped a Washington PD officer and told him where Cowl's body was. When the officer rushed off Hawk pushed Booth out of the way of the gurney with the girl from the basement on it. Brennan was walking beside it, holding the girl's left hand.

Booth and Hawk both gasped at the sight of the beaten girl and hung their heads.

"Still think it was wrong to kill him?" Hawk asked.

Booth turned and looked directly into Hawk's eyes, anger and contempt in his face. "Who's more at fault, the rabid dog, or the owner that doesn't put him on a leash?" He hissed.

* * *

Booth and Hawk were sitting in the hallway of the hospital, waiting for word about the condition of Jane Gloucester, the last victim of the late serial killer Joseph Cowl. Brennan was standing by the wall watching as doctors worked on the girl in the emergency room.

Shortly Brennan turned and walked out of the hospital.

A doctor came out from the room and shook his head at Booth and Hawk.

"It was too much." He said softly. "There was just too much damage."

Booth stood and slammed his fist into the wall.

* * *

"Of course I understand, Sweety." Angela said. "I'll see you next time you're down, when will that be?" She twirled her hair around her free finger as she held the phone to her ear. God, Hawk's voice is so sexy, she thought.

"Alright, I'll see you in about a month then. Bye, Sweety." She hung up the phone and smiled. "I wonder if I can get him to wear one of those red RCMP uniforms?" She wondered out loud.

* * *

Hawk hung up the phone and wandered back into the boarding line for the plane to Ottawa. He hated doing that to Angela. He realized he could never see her again; his government had already had another mission for him at the embassy when he'd reported in. As he walked past the flight attendant at the plane entrance, he handed her his ticket.

"Hello, Mr. Johnson." She said. "First class is back behind me on the left."

"Merci." He said.

Once he got to his seat, he pulled out his wallet. Opening it he saw the picture of Angela, he'd asked for the night before. He pulled it out and gazed into her dark eyes and mischievous smile. He sighed, and allowed a tear to fall down his cheek, before crumpling the picture in his hand and dropping it in the trash bag beside him.

* * *

Booth was sitting at the bar, nursing his third beer and staring at the top of the counter. He noticed the person sliding into the seat beside him and recognized the sound of her voice as she ordered a drink.

"Bones, why can't I ever sulk alone?" Booth said with a sigh.

"I don't think you were sulking I think you were brooding." Brennan replied, taking a sip of her drink.

"I do not brood."

"Yes you do." She responded with a smile. "Children sulk, adults brood."

"At the moment I prefer sulking."

Brennan nodded. There was a moment of silence before Brennan asked. "You going to tell me what really happened?"

Booth looked at her in shock for a moment.

"I saw Cowl's X-rays." Brennan said with a sip of her drink. "They don't match up with Hawk's story."

"Suffice it to say that it's far above either of our pay grades." Booth said, slouching again.

Brennan nodded. "What about Hawk and Angela?"

"She'll be hurt." Booth muttered.

Brennan nodded again. "She'll need some good friends."

Booth nodded. "Yes she will."

Brennan punched Booth playfully in the shoulder. "But right now I think you do."

Booth smiled at her. "You're like the Rocky of Squints aren't you? You just won't give up."

Brennan smiled back at Booth. "Rocky? I don't know what that means."

Booth threw his head back and laughed.


	11. Chapter 11

Epilogue – One month later:

Booth, Brennan, Hodgins and Zach were all sitting in Booth's car in a parking lot, just within view of the Lincoln Memorial. Angela had been so happy when she had mentioned that she and Hawk had made plans to meet at the Lincoln Memorial one month later. She hadn't heard from him at all in the past month but she was certain that he would show up.

"There she is." Hodgins said stretching his arm between Brennan and Booth in the front seat.

Angela was walking up the steps and looking around her. She wore a flowered print summer dress and a black lacy shawl. Her hair was loose and hung over her shoulders in delicate ringlets.

"She looks pretty." Zach muttered from beside Hodgins.

"Women do that when they go on dates." Hodgins replied.

"I've been on dates." Zach said tensely.

Hodgins merely looked at Zach with arched eyebrows. "Sure you have."

"I have!"

"Kids!" Booth cried. "Don't make me turn this car around."

Two hours later Angela was sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with her head in her hands staring out into the darkening sky.

"He probably got held up somewhere." Zach said.

"He's not coming." Hodgins replied. "I told you he wouldn't come."

"It's possible he might have gotten slowed down at customs."

"He has a diplomatic passport!" Hodgins said, exasperated.

Booth suddenly turned in his seat. "If you two don't stop arguing, I'll shoot you both." As Booth turned to face the front again, he said to Brennan. "How do you deal with them all day?"

"It's a big lab." Brennan replied absently, her eyes fixed on Angela, silently giving strength to her friend.

By the fourth hour Angela was wandering around the steps to stretch her legs. It was dark now, and the light had come on to illuminate the massive statue of Lincoln.

"Maybe he's waiting for a more romantic setting to make his entrance." Zach muttered.

Booth reached for his gun.

Zach held up his hands. "Sorry."

Suddenly Angela fell to her knees on the top of the stairs and started crying.

Brennan was out of the car in a flash and racing up the steps to Angela. The three men followed behind, but knew that Brennan had to get there first.

When Booth arrived Angela had buried her face in Brennan's shoulder, who was gently stroking her head. Brennan looked up at Booth and smiled sadly.

"I'm such an idiot!" Angela was saying. She looked up and saw the others standing there looking down at her, their faces a mixture of sadness and concern. "You all knew he was wrong didn't you?"

"We had our … Ooooff" Zach started, but Hodgins elbowed him hard in the side.

"You did what you felt was right." Hodgins said. "That's good."

Booth smiled. "You think with your heart, Angela. That's a very rare thing, and it makes you very special." Booth crouched down and placed one of his strong hands on Angela's shoulder. "It's people like you that keep faith in the world. And faith is the most powerful thing in the world."

Angela smiled up at Booth ad whispered, "Thank you."

Hodgins frowned at Booth, "A romantic? I never would have pegged you as a romantic, Big Guy."

Booth frowned at Hodgins and reached for his gun.

Hodgins quickly raised both hands. "Not arguing, just an observation!"

Angela giggled.

Booth looked down at her. "How 'bout some food? I've been cooped up in my car with Hodgins for way too long."

Angela nodded and Booth helped her and Brennan up. Brennan looked at Booth and smiled, pulling him away from the others.

"Thank you." Brennan said. "For helping with Angela."

Booth shrugged. "Just helping a friend. A friend once helped me, just repaying the kindness." Booth wrapped an arm around Brennan and pulled her close. "That's what friends do, Bones."

* * *

Hawk stood and watched as the five people walked back to their cars. He was just about to rush forward when he saw Dr. Brennan running to Angela after she had started crying. Hawk's eyes were green now and he sported a beard, and extensions had been placed in his hair, which now hung down past his shoulders.

Hawk watched as they got into the cars and drove away. He stood from where he was crouching in the bushes beside the Memorial and slowly walked back to his car. After he got back in he noticed that his Blackberry was flashing. Another mission, he thought. Another country, another name.

Smiling to himself, he leaned back and pictured Angela in his mind's eye. He was glad he chose this mission to use his real name. At least he hadn't lied about that.

END


End file.
